Billboard charts 70's V

Although Billboard has yet to release a top 500 for the biggest hits of the 70's on their website (as of this writing of course) I've decided to make up my own list which I created on my RYM site to look over what I believe to be the biggest hits of the decade over there. As usual this list only includes songs that were popular in the southern hemisphere back in the day and not the songs that didn't appeal to us Aussies or kiwis.

This was the other solo hit that went to number one on Billboard from MJ this decade, although as you can tell, this was far less popular in his homeland than it was here in Australia which likely explains why it was a dud in NZ of all places. Unlike Livie's entry from the Grease soundtrack, this didn't outrank the song that beat it for best original song at the Oscars given how Maureen McGovern took that prize.

The kiwis are here to save the day yet again as they were able to make this one and only hit from the RNB group Hot a massive success where we Aussies failed to do so. Of course, it was a bigger success in their homeland given how this was a particularly good decade for musicians of colour in America (as was the case for every decade from the 60's to the 2010's.)

Considering this was blocked from the number one spot in America by "Joy to the world" from earlier on this list, this means that the American public were feeling particularly religious during the first stretch of the decade likely due to personal shame that they allowed the hippy culture to run rampant throughout the 60's. Much like the rest of the world, this is the best the Canadian and could do on Billboard.

Even though this is Helen Reddy's final appearance on my list, she did have two more candidates for it as her popularity lasted slightly longer in America than it did here in Australia due to there being no Countdown equivalent that declared her to be yesterday's news like there was in her home country. That said, this didn't do nearly as well on Billboard as it did on our charts, making her more successful here overall.

It's been a while since we looked at either artist on this list, so here's the husband-and-wife duo Carly Simon and James Taylor with their collaboration that would've been much higher on my Australian list for the 70's had it not had to compete with a local version trying to steal its success. This is the final appearance from her with him still having one more entry to come on this list.

As far as Americans are concerned, this was the breakthrough single for Cliff Richard given how everything he released in the 60's crashed and burned on the Billboard charts. Indeed, he only had a total of three hits in America with this "We don't talk anymore" and "Dreaming," those two songs of course appearing on the 80's rendition of this list I made a while back.

This was only the third hit from Brian Hyland in his career in his homeland, the first two being "Itsy bitsy" (I'm not typing out the full name of that accursed song) and "Sealed with a kiss" from a decade prior to this entry. I guess we Aussies had enough nostalgia for those two hits to follow suit with his fellow Americans and make this a hit for him, however this would be the last anyone would hear from him.

It took us a while, but we finally have the first of several entries from Dr Hook on this list as they were indeed one of the biggest bands of the decade in their homeland just like they were here in Australia. This was their biggest hit purely for how long it lasted on the Billboard charts as none of their singles managed to crack the top five over there despite them having two chart toppers down under.

I have a feeling this only crossed over to America for Bonnie Tyler due to it being a chart topper here in Australia given how it failed to be as such in her native UK, don't get me wrong, it was a massive hit over there, just not to the extent of it being a hit in America. As you've likely read from my 80's list, the best was yet to come for the Welsh singer regardless of where in the world you're from.

This is the third and final entry from the Captain and Tennille on this list, although if I allowed every entry to appear from my RYM list onto this list, we would've also looked at "Shop around" and "Muskrat love" which are considered two of the worst songs of the decade as opposed to these three entries which are only at worst considered to be lame.

Given how "Ballroom blitz" had a two-year delay to its release in America, this meant that this had to be pushed back by a year over there which no doubt resulted in its potential popularity been weakened as the general public moved away from glam rock by the time it came out over there. That said, it still managed to become a decent hit for Sweet, proving how much appeal it had even with these setbacks.

Given how Eric Burdon had a Billboard chart topper with "House of the rising sun" with his previous band the Animals, it makes sense that he would score a hit with his debut single with his second band War over there even if it didn't do as well as it did here in Australia. Hey at least it made it comfortably on this list which is more than I can say for its presence on my UK list of the 70's.

This got stuck behind "Annie's song" for two weeks on the Billboard charts, meaning that this was another song from Elton John that missed out from getting to number one despite him still yet to have a number one hit in his native UK. Again, we need to thank the kiwis for allowing this to be a hit on the Listener charts as we Aussies passed this up in favour of making the album Caribou one of the biggest of the decade.

I bet you forgot that this was a chart-topping hit in America given how long it's taken us to look at this follow up to the Beatles earlier entry, here we are with the last hurrah from the band before they decided to officially go their separate ways throughout the decade. As a bit of a heads up, this won't be appearing on my UK list for the 70's due to it being a complete failure in their homeland.

For whatever reason, I would've thought this would be a bigger hit for Michael Murphey given how this is the type of country music I've been skipping over quite profusely from my RYM list. That said, it would explain why it was a mere sleeper hit here in Australia as it was similar enough for us to confuse it for a John Denver track.

It's a bit odd that this wasn't nearly as successful in America as it was here in Australia, although considering "Ain't no mountain high enough" from Diana Ross is the song that prevented it from becoming a Billboard chart topper, I don't think they have much to be ashamed for in this case. There are three more entries to come from these guys on this list, proving they were big despite how long it's taken me to feature one of their songs.

I'd say we're looking at our seventh Oscar winning track on this list, except this isn't the version to take home the prize as this is a cover of the version used in the film Lovers and other strangers which no doubt became a worldwide hit due to the affiliation it had with the movie. It meant that the Carpenters were on a roll in their homeland just like they were here in Australia back in the day.

This is the only candidate that Led Zeppelin had for this list, that means that they found more success here in Australia and NZ given how they had a second hit with "Black dog" and "The immigrant song" in each respective country. If it's any consolation, there's at least one more entry from the band on this list than there will be on my upcoming UK list for this decade.

Had these guys found any success throughout the rest of the world outside their big hit in NZ, they would've had five entries on here with this being their third appearance on this list. It wasn't even their highest charting single as "Love train" went to number one on Billboard earlier in the decade for the long time RNB group of colour.

I wasn't expecting to see this guy on the list or have his popularity in Australia and NZ be the result of him scoring a hit in America even though it was also a hit in his native UK, I guess being a producer for the right clientele was all these guys needed to find an audience with their own material even if it only worked for one song each. Hurricane Smith isn't even the only producer to appear on this list for the record.

We have another song on this list that charted high despite its low placement on here, this time it's from the Ozark Mountain daredevil's (I can't even with that name) who had a decent hit in America as well as in NZ which allowed them to grace us with their presence on this list. Is it any surprise at this point that they were a one hit wonder in both countries?

This is another surprise for me on this list given how it was a decent success here in Australia for the Charlie Daniels band, I guess their fellow Americans considered this to be too much of a novelty hit to make it as big as a lot of the country classics that I skipped over on this list back in the day. They also didn't have a second hit, meaning we have yet another one hit wonder on our hands.

You know how my Australian list for this decade was peppered with female country artists? It turns out that was something unique to us Aussies as it appears that the surprising number of these artists didn't see nearly as much success in their homeland as they did down under including Lynn Anderson who only did decently well on Billboard despite having a huge chart topper here.

Even though this was a big hit for Paul Nicholas in America, it wasn't among the most successful of the decade which makes its overwhelming success in NZ all the more surprising especially given how he was a British artist who failed to crack the UK charts with this number. This is also another song that failed to appear on a yearend list for the record.

We had to skip over the Billboard chart topper from Midnight magic that the Commodores had given how "Still" was a massive dud throughout the rest of the world, we can however look at its lead single given how it was a big hit for the band in NZ erven though we Aussies decided to leave these guys as a one hit wonder with their earlier entry on this list (until we changed our minds with "Nightshift" in 1985.)

I have to admit that I'm a bit confused as to why this was a hit in Australia and NZ and not the dozens of other soft rock tracks, I've skipped over on my RYM list. Peter McCann is a one hit wonder even in his homeland with this track, so unless there was a popular performance he made in either country with this track (which is possible of course) then I don't know what made it stand out from the rest.

The 60's might've been over, however that didn't mean the hippy movement was given how this was one of the first big hits worldwide once the 70's began. Naturally it would catch on in America even if its success was a fraction of what it achieved in Australia, NZ and their native UK, this is typical of breakthrough songs from non-American artists making it big on the Billboard charts.

I'm not sure how the kiwis came across this and the follow up hit for the Commodores given how both of them appear low on this list (we'll get to "Brick house" in a bit) however it was because they were such big hits in NZ that they both appear on this list of mine. It definitely explains why we Aussies ignored these two songs and indeed the band altogether until their top entry on this list.

We have another entry on here where we need to thank the kiwis for making a success out of back in the day for its presence, admittedly we Aussies went with a different song for the Stylistics breakthrough (which we'll get to in a bit) which explains the failure this had over here. In any case, these guys were well on their way to becoming one of the biggest names of the decade with these entries.

We now have my bonus 70's lists to thank for why some of these songs appear on this list as this was a sleeper hit for Ringo Starr in NZ where it was ignored throughout most parts of the world. He still has one more entry to come on this list as well as an additional three songs of his that were candidates for this list, meaning that if we don't count Paul's work with Wings, Ringo was the most successful Beatle of the decade.

This is the other British producer who managed to find success everywhere in the world except for his homeland on this list, I guess the success he had in America explains how he did so well in Australia and NZ with this ballad, although only in NZ would he be able to escape the one hit wonder bin.

This is Ringo's final appearance on this list given how he had a bit of a fumble when it came to making a first impression on his own compared to the other three members of the Beatles, again he would have the last laugh as Paul would only outrank him as the most successful member of the fab four this decade once you factor in his work with his wife's band Wings.

It was super lucky that this was a sleeper hit in NZ, otherwise I wouldn't be able to feature Supertramp's biggest hit in America which was this lead single to their biggest album Breakfast in America. The second single from the album was also a candidate for this list, however "Take the long way home" just couldn't compete with the high sales the album saw in the southern hemisphere.

Even though these guys had success in America with their 60's material, this is still the earliest song of theirs I'll be featuring on this list as they had a big of a stumble during the transitioning of the decades just like they did internationally. This is also their final entry on this list as their final candidate for this list was only a hit in America and not anywhere else (that being "Nights on Broadway.")

We have one final entry from Rod Stewart on this list; it turns out he wasn't anywhere near as popular in America as he was internationally given how we won't be looking at "Sailing" or "You wear it well" on this list. Even this track from Foot loose and fancy free was a downgrade in terms of success compared to what it achieved internationally as it had no chance of topping the Billboard charts.

This lasted three weeks at number two and was blocked from getting to number one by "Baby come back" and "Staying alive," I guess Randy's fellow Americans were torn between making this a hit or not given its insensitive lyrics towards little people that people have defending for being ironic. I guess you can make the argument it was an "OK boomer" track the same way I use that to excuse "Money for nothing's" homophobic lyrics.

I'm not exactly sure how this guy managed to find success in the southern hemisphere given again, how many other ballads like this I've skipped over on my RYM list, I guess we Aussies and kiwis just had a random way of selecting what we liked from what was popular in America as I once again fail to see any rhyme or reason to that process.

This is the final entry from the Grease soundtrack given how A: none of the other singles were hits in Australia or NZ and B: weren't candidates for this list even if they were. It's actually surprising that this was a mainstream hit back in the day the more I think about it given how this is the type of song from a musical that loses all meaning when it's divorced from the scene it takes place in.

With how beloved she remains in the country scene to this day, you'd think that Dolly Parton would've had more hits in her homeland than the three that wound up becoming international hits for her. At least two out of three were bigger on Billboard than they were in Australia and ESPECIALLY NZ, however her third hit with Kenny Rogers proved to be more popular in the southern hemisphere as we saw in my 80's list.

This is the only other entry from the Village people as it appears their fellow Americans weren't quite ready for their brand of queer music like we Aussies and kiwis were back in the day. At least they were able to balance out the success of their albums with their singles as we saw in my biggest albums on Billboard list a month back, something they struggled with here in Australia where they were clearly a singles band.

Although this was a decent hit in Dire strait's native UK, it was when it became a hit here in Australia that it took off for them throughout the rest of the world (likely due to a Countdown performance that's currently lost media.) This allowed their debut single to be a huge hit in America and set them up on the path for becoming one of the biggest bands of the 80's with their subsequent follow ups.

So, a bit of a fun fact (or not so fun fact depending on your point of view) about CCR, they never made it to number one in their homeland despite having five songs that came close to doing so. This wasn't one of them even though it's their second highest placement on my list, proving once again that getting to number one on Billboard isn't always everything if your song lasts for quite some time on the charts.

This is the only appearance from Donny and Marie Osmond on this list, although they did have a second hit together with "Morning side of the mountain" which would've also appeared on here had it been more of a hit in their homeland. Both of these songs were big in NZ as we Aussies were understandably put off by the implications these songs made by the brother and sister duo singing these love songs to each other.

We still have one more entry to come from Wings after this entry, although I will say that despite it making the top 500 on my RYM list, it only barely cracked the top five on Billboard which is further proof that number one didn't always mean everything even this far back in time. It feels odd that these guys would call it quits moving into the 80's given how well they were doing worldwide.